Australia | Digital Trends in Sports Media … how fans are accessing content

The recent restrictions on social gatherings have seen sporting events played behind closed doors – or with a limited number of fans in attendance – leaving many fans searching for alternative ways to follow their favourite sports teams.

This comes at a time when the sports media landscape is already shifting dramatically, with new players entering the market – whether with OTT streaming platforms or mobile apps.

So where are we now in terms of how fans are accessing content?

At YouGov Sport we have added the ability to trend data in YouGovProfiles – our consumer profiling platform – making it an even more powerful tool. For instance, we can easily look at the long-term average for consumption of sports media over the past year and compare that to data collected in just the last month.

The chart below looks at media consumption among sports fans in general – comparing the data collected over the past year with that collected in the past 30 days:

Looking at the past year’s data, live games on TV is still the most popular option for consuming sport, with over 80% of sports fans following sports in that way.

Digital media options such as social media (34%) and live streams (31%) are seen to complement, rather than supplant, traditional media such as newspaper (35%) and radio (32%).

However, when we cut that down to look at data from the past month only, we can see clearly how things have been trending differently.

Whilst live TV games remains on top, around half of fans have accessed content via social media (52%) and online live streams (45%) in the past month. The long-term average for accessing content via a mobile app sits at 24% but in the last month that has jumped up to 41%.

We know from the YouGov COVID-19 Sports Monitor that there is increasing demand for sporting content in general, with almost half of sports fans anticipating they will watch/ stream more content this year than last. This amounts to over 4.5m Aussie sports fans looking for additional sporting content, making the prospective market huge.

It is perhaps no surprise that we have seen an increased shift and focus around digital platforms during this challenging period but, like so much of the ‘new normal’, where these trends end up is anyone’s guess.

As fans start to return to games and other outdoor activities increasingly become an option, might we see consumption return to the same levels as before? Or will these new habits stick, as more and more fans become comfortable with accessing content via a range of digital media?

Only time will – but whatever the outcome you will be able to track it with YouGov Profiles.

Photo by Victoria Heath